Good day fellow Nairalanders, I am sorry to say that this story will be suspended till further notice because my father has passed away. . Being the eldest son, I have a lot of responsibilities to take care of including my plans to travel to Nigeria. I hope you all bear with me. Take care and remained blessed.

Honest comments and criticisms are always welcomed. It helps a lot in improvements and seeing if I am doing a good or bad job.

do4luv14:




That's what makes you a great writer, able to listen, spot mistakes, and correct accordingly,

Good beautiful morning bro, trust you had a great night rest,

Are we gonna see update today, hope so

Good evening over here. I had a great night though the wahalla is waking up in the morning to go to work in this winter season especially when all you just want to do is stay under the blanket. I appreciate the remarks bro, but due to work schedule, I can only update on weekends. Take care of yourself.

Corrections made. Mehn this mistakes sef.

I hope you all have a good weekend. See you all next week.

Alex quietly closed the door and looked at Eric who was sitting on the and staring in his direction with a cell phone in hand. Alex pursed his lips and crossed the floor of their safe house living room.

"I know....you don't have to tell me", Alex began and tiredly slumped on the sofa.

"Tell you what?", Eric muttered and continued working his fingers on his mobile device.

"I know that look on your face", Alex replied with a grunt and took out his cell phone. "You always have it whenever you are back from butchering niggas in some joint.

Eric chuckled. He looked at his brother and said, "Then I must have stared at the mirror when that door opened cos the face I saw, had a similar look.

"Yeah, that's what I've been up to tonight. So that makes it two of us, bro", Alex muttered.

"How many?".

"Three. The motherfuckers kidnapped Sharon, and Greg and I had to go save her".

Eric chuckled. "So did you get to fulfill the wish that you had for Greg's girlfriend before passing her to him?", he asked.

"Nah men", Alex shook his head. "Greg did express his amount of love for her on one of them guy's face". He rested a distant gaze at the center table. "Sh!t was horrific", Alex continued quietly.

"So did you get to find out anything?", Eric asked.

"Yeah, and Chris did break into those dead guys' cell phones". Alex took out another cell phone that wasn't his. It was the cell phone with the number that Chris had traced to the kidnapper's den. Alex had taken it before he left the place. "I will also give him this one too.

"What about Sharon?", Eric asked.

"Got something from her too. I will be checking it out by sunrise", Alex replied. Feeling too tired to go into the details, he got to his feet. "I gotta go get some sleep, man", he said to Eric. "I will tell you the rest later". Then he proceeded to the stairs leading to the bedroom.

"Aren't you gonna ask me how mine went?", Eric asked after Alex.

"I already know that it went to an abnormally high casualty rate for the guys that came after you", Alex replied tiredly. "I just wanna get some sleep right now. You can tell me all about the damages tomorrow", he concluded.

do4luv14:
Hmmm of all suggestion to suggest, na makeup sex ehn Sharon!!!!!!

the thing tire me sef. Upon all the violence and danger.

Greg gently moved Sharon to a comfortable position in the back seat of the BMW before sitting next to her. He asked her if she was doing okay, to which Sharon gave him a positive answer even though she was still weak from the sedative.

Alex slid into the driver's seat of the vehicle. He saw Sharon resting her head on Greg's shoulder when he took a glance at them through the rearview mirror and reached for the cell phone that he had left lying on the dashboard to call Chris. And he saw that Chris had called him more than a dozen times.

"I will be back", Alex said to Greg and Sharon. He got out of his car and walked a few meters away to make the phone call.

"Dude! I was already getting worried", Chris's voice gasped out of the phone earpiece.

"I appreciate the great concern", Alex muttered.

"So what happened?", Chris eagerly asked, his breaths of dilemma could be heard.

"Sharon is safe now and unscathed", Alex replied and glanced at his car. "We saved her from those men".

"Really?! How?!".

"We went to the location you gave us, found the house where she was being held hostage, and saved her".

"But how did you guys pull that off? You said the men were armed".

Alex heaved a heavy sigh. "Greg and I located the house, we busted into it, then kicked the men's ass and killed them", he replied. "And rescued Sharon", he added.

Chris went silent for a long moment. "You....killed the men?", his voice then asked quietly.

"It's not like they would've handed her over with apologies for their wrongdoings", Alex replied. "So we had to take the only option on the table".

"What about Greg?...where is he?"

"Greg's in the car with Sharon and cooling himself off".

"Cooling off after killing men?"

"He mightily expressed his love for Sharon on one of them"

"Just...keep the details to yourself, man. I wanna have a peaceful sleep", Chris sighed. "So what next?", he asked.

"I will tell Greg to take Sharon and go somewhere safe, and then go home to get some sleep", Alex replied and started walking back to his car.

"Well, good luck with the sleep...and tell Greg who also helped save his girlfriend", Chris reminded Alex.

"I will certainly do that and also see you soon". Alex ended the phone call and slid back into the BMW driver's seat. He made a quick check on the two in the back seat before the car engine turned over to his finger pressing the engine push-button. Alex then put the BMW in motion and started heading toward another destination.

"So what now?", Greg asked as Alex Smoothly guided the car along the road.

"You'll have to find a place to keep Sharon safe", Alex replied. "But I suggest that the both of you should be out of town for a while", he advised.

"Okay", Greg murmured and stared at Sharon who was now fully awake with her head resting on his shoulder. He was thinking of the best place to go with her.

Sharon stared out of the car window and was seemingly lost in thoughts. She was probably thinking about her close shave with a deadly situation that could've been the end of her. The message that Alex had wanted to give her then crossed her mind.

"That message that you had wanted to give me", Sharon then began and look at Alex's position. "Does it have anything to do with what happened to me?", she asked.

Alex glanced at Sharon through the rearview mirror. "Sort of", he replied with a nod.

"Do you know beforehand that I was going to be kidnapped?", Sharon asked with a keen look at Alex.

"I didn't", Alex replied. "The kidnappers just had the wrong luck of having Greg and me being at the right place and at the right time".

"And what's the message?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you some questions", Alex began quietly, thinking hard about what to say. "It's about something that happened: a friend of mine told me about a gang-related incident that went down several days ago, three gang members were killed", he continued as Sharon and Greg listened attentively to him. "So this friend of mine mentioned some pictures that were found in the dead men's possession, pictures of some good-looking girls, he said", Alex went on. "So out of curiosity, I asked him if he also happened to hear what the said girls look like". Alex then gave Sharon a brief stare through the rearview mirror and turned his eyes back to the road. "One of the descriptions that he gave me fits you. The other was the description of the dead girl that was shown in yesterday's news", he told her.

Sharon let out an inaudible gasp. Greg glanced at her and stared at Alex with a lot of concern.

"At first, I didn't take it that seriously, until I saw the news. So, feeling that something could be going on, I decided to try to meet you as soon as possible, to ask if you were somehow into something that might attract the wrong type of people...or perhaps, hanging with someone that might have gotten him or herself into some kind of mix with dangerous characters, and to also warn you about the situation", he further went on. "And with the sh!t that just went down between you and those dead men in that house, it's now clear that something bad is going on", Alex concluded.

Sharon sighed and remained silent for a short while with a thoughtful look on her face. "But I haven't done anything to anyone...or engaged in any sort of doings that would make me a target for kidnap", she then said with a look of concern and raised eyebrows.

"Probably worse, those men might be the ones that killed the girl in the news and her boyfriend too", Alex noted.

"Leonard is the only person with a reckless character, of all the people I've hanged with so far", Sharon continued. "He always made a show of how much of a thug he is, and I kind of hated it and somehow regretted why I met him". She frowned.

"The dude is faker than a three-dollar bill", Alex snorted. "I would rather take the risk of spending that bill than hang around with that ass-clown". Then Alex made a brief pause, and asked, "But did you notice any of your friends that's been acting a little bit off lately?".

Sharon thought for a short while. "Well, Annette's kind of been acting a bit off, though", she then said. Alex's eyes took another glance at the rearview mirror. "Don't get me wrong here", Sharon immediately put in. "Annette is my best friend, even though her odd behaviour does irritate me at times, and I've known her for quite a long time", she continued.

"What makes her behaviour to be seemingly odd?", Alex asked.

"She gets suspicious so easily and has a lot of trust issues, especially when it comes to guys...and hardly goes on dates", Sharon replied.

"Okay", Alex muttered, now understanding why Annette had walked out on him in a seemingly rude way at the V.I.P. room.

"It's not like she had the problem of being approached by guys, or them wanting to court her", Sharon went on. "There are times that we get jealous due to the number of guys that approach her. But she always blows them off, done rudely at times".

"Any reason for this attitude of hers?".

"It was said that it's because of how she grew up, being raised by a single mother who died when she was ten and then spent some time in a group home before her education was sponsored by a philanthropic foundation".

"So how and when did she start acting a bit off, as you had said?".

Sharon thought for a short while. "About a few days ago", She replied with a thoughtful look on her face. "I kind of started having this feeling that she was all over me, always calling to know where am at or who I'm with, checking up on me so much that it almost felt like I was dealing with my mother", she snorted. "Do you think she knows something?", Sharon asked with a suspicious look on her face.

"That, I would like to find out", Alex replied. "And I would like you to give me her address so that I can do that", he added.

"Okay", Sharon agreed to Alex's request.

"And like I told Greg, don't tell anyone anything, especially what happened in that house and the dead men", Alex warned her.

"Which house and what dead men?", Sharon smirked. "I saw nothing. And as far as I'm concerned, I was having make-up sexx with Greg, all night long", she chuckled and looked at Greg who also agreed with a nod.

"Good", Alex smiled. "And be sure that you guys leave town immediately, latest tomorrow morning", he added.

"I will tell my grandmother living in a different state to be expecting us in her place by tomorrow", said Greg.


******************************************

Alex then heaved a heavy sigh of relief, leaned against the wall next to the door of the room, and turned his eyes to Greg.

Greg was still on top of the man, now shockingly staring at the face that he had pulverized with reckless abandon: he left a bloody mess of torn flesh and tissue, numerous broken teeth, and a visage that was caved-in like a deflated ball, to be identified as the man's face. And the body of a sick bastard who's undeserving of mercy and pity.

Alex quietly paced toward Greg and stood beside him. Greg then raised his face at him and he saw the look of fear and great concern on Greg's face. Greg was now realizing that he had killed his first man; men to be exact if it was between the two of them, it was also Alex's first 'Body' too, but Greg was the only one that was visibly troubled by the new feat they had accomplished.

"I think I killed him", Greg began quietly at Alex with fear in his tone.

"We did", Alex corrected, then he grabbed Greg's arm, and with a grunt, helped the big guy get off the dead body and to his feet. "If we didn't, these guys would have done a lot of things to your girl before killing her", he continued. "But before that, they would have killed us for trying to save her, no question asked", he added and glanced at Greg from head to toe.

Greg stared at Alex for a short while, sighed, and made glances at his blood-soaked hand, the brass knuckles he was still wearing, and the numerous red droplets on his shirt. Then he suddenly remembered Sharon.

"She is alright", Alex said and got hold of Greg to stop him from dashing to the room. "Give her some time to rest, they must have knocked her out with a sedative", he said.

"Did these bastards do anything to....", Greg then began and made another attempt to go to the room.

"Hey!". Alex interrupted Greg and stopped him again. "They didn't touch her", he assured. "She still has all her clothes on". Greg then heaved a heavy sigh of relief, blowing out his cheeks, as if he had just beaten a murder case in court.

Understanding Greg's feelings, Alex then went over to the sofa and heavily dropped his weight on it. Greg looked into the room, confirmed with his eyes that Sharon was in the best condition, and then joined Alex, sitting beside him.

The two young men that never liked each other for as long as they could remember, both stared in silence at the dead bodies of the men they had killed. As much as they had always wanted to hurt each other, it was clear that none of them would have had a second thought to render a helping hand when it comes to dealing with the caliber of men they had taken out: they even joined hands in doing to one of the men, what they would never wish on each other, no matter how much the dislike between them.

"Thanks, man", Greg then broke the minute-long silence that had passed.

Alex sighed. It still doesn't change anything", he muttered quietly.

"Yeah, I know how you feel", Greg murmured, seemingly reflecting on their highly not-so-commendable relationship. "I know I had done some bad things to you", he went on.

"A lot", Alex corrected. "You made my high school a living hell, man", he stated.

"And I'm sorry for that", Greg apologized. He looked at Alex "Besides you had your revenge, you nearly f@cked up my body. But I'm still sorry for what I made you go through".

"Anyway". Alex looked at Greg. "No one should ever know what happened here", he warned Greg with a look that meant he was very serious about what he said.

"Dude, my mother will probably kill herself if she hears what I had done", Greg muttered quietly.

"Good, make sure it stays unknown to her or anybody", Alex said and got to his feet. Greg then did the same when he heard something in the room.

Sharon had woken up. She moaned again and Greg immediately went into the room. He came out within seconds, carrying Sharon in his arms. She had her arms around his shoulders, weakly asking him questions about what happened and where she was, and looking quite surprised by his presence. Then she saw Alex and got even more surprised by his presence too.

"What happened?", Sharon asked Alex.

"We came here to save you", Alex replied.

Sharon suddenly remembered being kidnapped: her screams while being forced into a van and seeing Greg that had tried to help her being violently subdued. It all came back to her.

"Oh my God!". Sharon gaped at the perpetrators of her kidnap when she caught sight of their twisted dead bodies on the living room floor.

"I think it's time we get the hell out of here", Alex said immediately. Greg nodded. Both of them quickly made for the door with Greg carrying Sharon who was now pressing her face against his chest to hide her eyes from the gory mug of one of her kidnappers.


******************************************

Then Alex turned his attention to Greg and saw him on his back with the third man on top of him. He was struggling to free his neck from the man's choking grip. This prompted Alex to move and furiously swing his right leg at the man

The hard GS edge of Alex's boot banged the man in the guts with a kick fit enough to rocket a ball out of the playing field. The blow sent him painfully tumbling off Greg and speedily visiting the floor with his back on the ground.

Greg quickly recovered, got on top of the man, and stunned him with a violent fist blow to his face. The man's hands immediately ventured at Greg's face to defend himself. But Alex had already moved: he dealt the man an even more violent blow and got hold of both his arms with a tight grip. With a loud curse, Greg immediately reached into his pocket and took out the Brass knuckles he had with him. Alex saw it, knew what was about to happen, and pinned the man's arms firmly to the floor as Greg slipped the terrifying-looking steel weapon on his right hand with a flashing movement. Then Alex watched as Greg made the switch from the person that was fighting for his life to a full-on deranged killer.

With all the strength that he could muster, Greg savagely brought down his big fist straight to the man's face and ended his struggle with an impact that shook the floor. The solid-steel "Knucklebusters" violently met the man's face again, shattering his jaw, knocking out several teeth, and pushing in his nose. The next one came with the murderous anger raging inside Greg after he had witnessed the manhandling and kidnap of the one girl he truly loved: his love for Sharon was immeasurable, and so was the damage he inflicted on her assailant.

WHOMP!..WHOMP!!..WHOMP!!..WHOMP!!...WHOMP!!

Blows from the metal-covered fist that hammered away undeterred and nonstop, echoed in the living room. So did Greg's grunts of the fire of anger that raged in his chest as he butchered the face of Sharon's would-be rapist, with no mercy.

"Hey!". Alex then got hold of Greg's arm midway from going through the man's face again. "The dude's finished", he told Greg and pointed at the dead man. "You don't have to pound his head into the ground".

Greg shortly stared at Alex, cooled off for a moment, and relaxed his clenched fist that was heavily soaked with blood.

Alex let go of Greg's arm, quickly picked up his pistol, and moved to the door. He cautiously opened it slightly, keeping a tight hold on his Glock 43 'heater' as he checked to see if the violence that he and Greg perpetuated, had attracted some attention outside the house. Seeing nothing that was of concern, he closed it and immediately rushed toward the room. He swung the door open and saw Sharon on a dirty-looking, double-sized mattress that was the only piece of furniture in the makeshift bedroom. She was lying motionless but very well alive with her chest rising and falling with her breaths. And she was still fully clothed and untouched by the men.

Two thickset men seated next to each other on a worn-out three-person sofa stared fixedly at the early morning program beaming on the screen of t.v in front of them. The living room was small and shabby in decoration, the carpet covering the floor was worn-out and dirty, and the t.v was of an old model standing on a small table. Behind the men was the living room window that had been boarded up with thick planks of wood.

The men, one, average in height and stoutly built, and the other, burly, baldheaded, and quite tall with flabby arms, had their attentions on t.v screen with a center table in front of them, on it, two Ak-47 assault rifles and a wicked-looking knife on it.

Both men weren't interested in the show on the telly. They were just being alert though tired, and whiling away the hours they would have to wait before getting their next order.

Three knocks then drew the men's attention to the door.

"Pizza delivery". A voice outside the house announced.

Both men threw glances at each other. "What the f@ck is you looking at?", the burly man began. "Go get the damn food! I'm starving", he continued, and his stoutly looking partner muttered a low grumble and heaved himself to his feet.

The man peered in the door peephole and saw three boxes of Pizza held up on the other side of the door. He proceeded to unlock the door as he reached for the money in his back pocket, opened the door, and then saw the barrel of the Glock handgun that was immediately pressed against his forehead.

Alex raised a finger to his lip and motioned at the startled man to keep silent. Greg quickly but quietly left the Pizza boxes on the ground with a recognizing stare at the man that had kicked and almost killed him. Then Alex grabbed the man's shoulder, spun him around, and both he and Greg walked the man into the living room with the pistol pointing at the back of his head.

The burly man turned his attention away from the t.v when he noticed from the corner of his eyes, the disproportionate number of figures walking into the living room. He froze upon seeing his partner being held at gunpoint.

"Keep your hands where I can see them", Alex ordered quietly. The burly man slowly raised his hand, stealing several glances at the weapons lying on the table in front of him. "You already know what this thing does to anyone trying to be a smartass", Alex continued. "Don't try to be one cos it gonna do the same", he warned. "Where is she?", he asked.

At that moment, the door to the single bedroom in the house opened. "Any of you got a damn condom?", the third man in the house began as he stepped into the living room and the standoff with his eyes on the empty pack of condoms in his hand. "The bitch might be having some creatures in her", he continued with a chuckle.

"I have the right size just for you here", Alex replied. The man froze on seeing his partners being held at gunpoint. Alex then motioned at him with the pistol to join his burly partner and he proceeded to do so after dropping the pack and kicking the door closed.

With Alex's eyes keenly focused on the third man as he slowly crossed the floor, the burly man suddenly lunged his weight at the weapons on the table with a surprising speed.

BVOOM!!

Alex's outstretched arm buckled to the roar of his handgun barking. The slug hit the burly man dead-center in his head and splattered blood and brain matter on the wall behind him on its exit. The man slumped over the table and his big body fell on top of the assault weapons with his hand knocking the knife to the ground.

The second and third men also acted immediately with the second knocking the handgun out of Alex's hand and the third, speedily making a move to yank one of the rifles that were underneath their dead partner.

The second man struck a stunning blow to Alex's face with an elbow. Greg dived at the third man and knocked him to the floor with his body before he could pull out the weapon. The second man then quickly maneuvered his body and swung another blow at Alex.

Alex may not be like his twin brother, Eric, with a record number of fights won and men mauled, but Nina did teach him well on how to defend himself and kill a man. And with the skill set that he had acquired from his biological mother, Alex was able to control the man's attack. Then Alex dealt him a fast one-two hook punch to his face, buried another one in his gut, grabbed his shoulder, and sent him to the floor with a brutal nose-breaking headbutt. In the corner, Greg was fighting recklessly, and it left him taking punches from his opponent and steadily losing the fight.

The man immediately grabbed the fallen knife, Alex also reached for the ceramic ashtray he saw on the floor. The man then furiously got to his feet and came at Alex, thrusting the knife's serrated blade at him. Alex skillfully dodged the blade and at the same time swung the ceramic at him. The hardware broke the man's wrist and dispossessed his hand of the knife. The ceramic came swinging at the man again, it violently met his face with a jaw-breaking blow, and he tasted a mouthful of his blood in his failed attempt to draw one.

Alex clobbered the man on his jaw again and sent him crashing face-first on the t.v table. Then Alex immediately picked up the fallen knife, buried it into the man's side, and viciously stomped its blade deep into the man's body, killing him.

Alex parked the BMW two houses away from the house where Chris had traced the number. He suddenly realized that he had no set-out plan on how to rescue Sharon. He had no experience in rescue missions and was just sitting in the car and being no better than a man that's about to senselessly rush head-first, into a battlefield with no logistics.

Greg was seated beside Alex, very eager to start making the move even though he was very nervous. And neither had he suggested any plan to Alex on their way to the place nor did he even have one in mind. He just wanted to save Sharon whom he had gotten back minutes before she was kidnapped.

"Are you sure this is the place?", Alex then spoke into his phone mouthpiece, glancing at the single-unit houses in the low-cost neighborhood that were arranged on both sides of the street.

"One hundred percent", Chris's voice replied. "A call was made there with that number to a Pizza take-out joint", he continued.

"How long ago?",

"About fifteen minutes ago".

Alex's eyes narrowed at an idea that just got into his mind. "Okay", he then said.

"So what are you gonna do?", Chris asked.

"I'm gonna make sure that their Pizza gets delivered", Alex replied.

"I don't know what that means, but you gotta be careful, man", Chris's voice came out with a sigh.

"I will call you back". Alex ended the phone call and left his cell phone on the car dashboard. Then his hand reached under his seat and took out the Glock 43 pistol he had hidden under it.

Greg's eyes immediately turned wide when he saw the handgun. "Is that a gun...a real gun?", he asked with fear.

"Last time I checked, it does send projectiles that could go through assholes", Alex replied indifferently as he dislodged its fully loaded magazine. He took a glance at the hollow-point bullet and slapped it back in.

"Then let's go save Sharon", Greg said, as if emboldened by the gun in Alex's hand, he quickly reached for the door handle.

"Hey!". Alex stopped him. "This is not going with your stupid friends to take my lunch money like you did in school", he said with a glare. "Those men are no-joke. You only move if I tell you to do so", he warned, and Greg withdrew his hand from the door handle.

Then Alex took out his wallet and stared at the currency notes in it: what was left of the money he had taken from Big John after spending it on fuel and the beer he had in CLUB 66.

Alex then took out some money and also left his wallet on the dashboard. And he then waited with his eyes taking steady glances ahead of him, and behind him through the rearview mirror.

A little over five minutes into their wait, Alex then sighted the single headlamp of an auto bike, heading toward their direction. Its rider got closer and Alex saw that it was the Pizza delivery man.

"Let's go!", Alex said to Greg, he tucked the pistol in his waistbelt with the other hand holding the currency notes and quickly alighted from the vehicle. Greg did the same, and both of them hurried with quick strides toward the delivery man who was now putting his bike in a stand.

"Doing good with delivery, huh", Alex smiled as he startled the man that was now taking out three boxes of different flavours of Pizza, from his delivery box. "Three boxes, right?", he asked.

The delivery regarded Alex with curiosity and nodded, thinking that the customer must be that hungry to have gotten out of the house that fast.

Alex then motioned at Greg to take the delivery. "My friend here and I went for a walk", Alex continued as the man handed the boxes to Greg. "Lucky to be back in time to get the snacks". He handed the money to the man and said, "Keep the change".

The delivery man looked at the money he had received, made a quick calculation of the differences, and smiled delightfully at two young men.

Then Alex and Greg watched as he mounted his bike with Alex taking glances at the front door of the house where he was supposed to make the delivery. After the bike had gotten to a distance safe enough for them to carry out their intentions, they started making their move.

"Three boxes of Pizza", Greg began as they headed straight to the front porch of the house where Chris had traced the phone.

"That means three guys in the house", Alex muttered.

Vidamia:
My memory is shallow, pls who is mary

Remember when Lisa was making her investigation into Eric's grandfather? Remember the names she said the man had answered. Now fast-forward to the part where the Oldman met Eric's grandmother in his office and he telling her that he had thought Nina(Eric's mother) belonged to another woman called Marianne.

meneski:
... Yeah right man.,.i believe last year treated u fine?

We thank God for his blessings.

meneski:
Smooth update!!!
happy new YEAR

Happy New Year Bro. Longest time.

nastynic:
Thanks for the Update Man.
Happy New year

Happy New year to you too Bro.

do4luv14:
Nice one bro,
Hope it keep coming,
Happy splendid New year to you and the Family

Thanks, man. I hope the family is doing great.

"Damn". Alex muttered and stared at the door that Annette left ajar after she had walked out of the room. "That was indeed....a warm way to say goodbye". Then he shook his head and glanced around the V.I.P. room. His cell phone started vibrating and he knew it was Chris calling again.

"Dude! What was that all about?", Chris's voice rasped out and Alex smiled. "You just ranted out meaningless jibberish and hung up. Were you dancing with Sharon or whatever her name is", he asked.

"I also had that wish", Alex muttered. "So what's up?", he asked.

"Well, I managed to break into all the cell phones you gave me".

"Good, what did you find?".

"All the files in the phones are cleaner than my grandma's room, man. They all have nothing".

Alex sighed.

"But I went through all the numbers they had called", Chris continued. "All except one, were last active yesterday morning".

"What about the other one?", Alex asked.

"Are you still in CLUB 66?",

"Yeah", Alex replied. "Why?", he asked.

"It has been active in that vicinity today".

"What? Why didn't you tell me?".

"Did you miss the part where you yarned dust and hung up on me? Cos that's what I wanted to tell you when I called", Chris's voice came out with an irritated tone.

Alex's eyes then turned alert. "How long ago", he demanded.

"The phone is still pinging its signal there", Chris said quickly. "The person using it is still around that place".

Having Sharon in his mind, Alex quickly made his way out of the V.i.P and ran through the corridor. He battled his way through the crowd on the main floor, saying his quick apologies again, and causing an individual that he had earlier bumped into to give him a long stare of confusion.

"Can you pinpoint the exact position of the person that's using the phone", Alex gasped into his cell phone mouthpiece as he stepped out of the club and into the main street with his eyes making a wild search for Sharon and Greg, or even Annette.

"It doesn't work that way if you are asking for the exact spot where the person is probably taking a piss right now", Chris replied. "It's just the map of the area with shapes of buildings, addresses, and a red dot", he continued.

"Sh!t!", Alex said under his breath as he continued with his search.

Then he saw Greg and Sharon several meters away from him, all smiles as they stepped out of a coffee shop talking to each other and holding hands. Alex told Chris to hold on and started heading in their direction with quick strides. It was at that moment a black mini-van zoomed toward Greg and Sharon and then screeched to a stop beside them.

A loud gunfire then rented the air followed by Sharon's scream. Alex immediately docked behind a parked car, and the crowd outside the club docked too or scattered in different directions. Alex then peered at what was going on. He saw two masked men in all-black attire, struggling with Sharon and Greg: one of them was armed and the other was trying to grab Sharon off Greg who was on the ground with her, and using his body to shield her from the men.

The armed man swung a wicked kick and struck Greg on his side, making his body roll away from Sharon and losing his grip on her. The other man then callously lifted off her feet to force her into the van while the gunman struck Greg again and then pointed the assault rifle he was wielding at him.

"Oh sh!t!". Alex's eyes widened on seeing the impending calamity that was about to befall Greg.

But the gunman's grim intention was interrupted when Sharon, in her desperate struggle, grabbed his shoulder and tugged at it. The gunman furiously turned to her, struck her in the face, and then helped his partner in forcing her into the minivan. The driver of the van then floored the throttle and the vehicle screeched to a speedy getaway.

Alex immediately got out of his hiding place and raced toward Greg who was lying on the floor, groaning painfully.

"Goddamn, man!", Alex began and bent over Greg. "You almost got yourself killed, you dumbfuck!", he bawled.

"They took Sharon! They took her!", Greg groaned hysterically as Alex helped him to his feet.

Alex then looked in the direction where the van had fled with Greg beside him, howling with a dilemma and asking him what to do. He stared at the car that disappeared down the road until its brake lights were nothing but a speck of red lights. Then he turned his eyes to his cell phone that he was still holding and remembered that Chris was still on the line.

"Chris are you still there?", Alex spoke into the cell phone mouthpiece.

"Dude! What the hell just happened?", Chris's voice demanded.

"Sharon just got kidnapped", Alex replied and heard Chris exclaim. He glanced at the crowd of shell-shocked onlookers that had gathered in front of the club, staring their way. "For God's sake, get a hold of yourself goddammit!", he then said irritatedly to Greg that was now sobbing with a downcast gaze. "Follow me!". Then he raced toward the parking lot where he had left his car with Greg following after him.

"Are you with someone?", Chris asked.

"Yeah, Greg", Alex gasped as he got closer to his vehicle.

"Greg? Who is Greg?".

"Our nemesis back in high school. Sharon is his girlfriend".

Chris went silent for a brief moment. "We have to inform the police fast", his voice then said. "I'm still tracking the number".

"Good". Alex unlocked the doors of the BMW and quickly slid into the driver's seat with Greg dropping his weight on the front passenger seat and still trying to control his tears. "Can you tell me the location where they are heading?", Alex asked Chris and brought life to the car engine.

"Why?".

"To see what I can do before the Cops get going with their activity".

"Hold on", Chris said and Alex could hear him working his fingers on his computer keyboard at his usual blinding speed. "I just gained access to the street cameras", his voice continued. "It will also give me a proper view of where they are going and their location. Did you get the chance to see the car they were driving?", he asked.

"Black old model minivan", Alex replied and put his car in motion. "You will probably see it so easily cos there is little to no traffic in the direction that they went", he continued.

Chris went silent again, then said, "Got them! Their car is now in Queens Street, heading North", he informed.

"Good. Leave the line open and keep me updated".

"Got it!".

"Greg who had been listening to the conversation then asked, "Where are we going?".

"To go save your girl from those men", Alex replied without looking at him. "And those men are armed, dangerous, and probably killed a lot of people". Alex then looked at him. "If you think that you ain't up to the task, then you better get out of the car now", he said firmly to Greg.

Greg then dried the rest of the tears in his eyes and stared ahead with an expressionless look that clouded his face. "I'm going", he said quietly to Alex and stayed silent.

Alex knew that he wouldn't have to say his words twice as he worked the steering wheel to make a wild U-turn. He knows the face that Greg always puts up whenever he is out to get something, he had seen it a lot, mostly during their high school days. With that in mind, Alex floored the gas pedal and raced the car in the direction that the getaway van had gone.


******************************************

Sharon then slumped heavily on the black leather-covered sofa in the room. She rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her palms with a sullen mood for a night out that had been ruined. Annette sat beside her, placed a hand on her, and tried to comfort her.

"What is this damn message that every goddamn person wants to give me?", Sharon then began irritatedly. Then she glared at Alex. "And who on earth is this guy?", she asked with her eyes on him. "Forget it! I don't wanna hear, and I most definitely don't want to hear anything from him!", she continued with a raised voice and pointed at Greg.

Alex made a quick check in the corridor and shut the door. "I think you might wanna hear what he and I have to say to you", he said to Sharon and paced towards her, stealing a glance at the empty bottles on the table that appeared to be empty way before he even stepped into the club.

Sharon glanced at him and then stared at Greg.

Greg acted immediately. "I was only chilling in the club and happened to see you walking by" he began and quickly took out his wallet in the back pocket of his black jean pants.

Sharon glanced at the wallet in Greg's hand. "So?", she asked impatiently.

"So I wanted to give you this". Greg took out from his wallet, a brand new-looking credit card with a logo that Sharon immediately recognized when he held it in front of her.

Sharon meant what she had said about not wanting to talk to Greg. But on seeing what he was holding, she jumped to her feet, almost bumping into him as she immediately reached out to take it. And for a while, she stared at the rectangle-shaped plastic with her full name written on it, like a prized possession.

"It came out yesterday", Greg continued as Sharon gaped at what she had always wanted so badly, now in her hands: she had been unable to get one because of the stringent processes that were involved, which she couldn't go through, she wasn't even qualified to have one in the first place due to her low credit rating. "My cousin told me that the card company couldn't contact you cos of your change of phone number", Greg went on. "I had to hold on to it, to personally give it to you if we happen to run into each other. And this isn't something that should be given to someone else to deliver to you", he concluded.

Sharon sighed and slowly dropped her weight on the sofa. She then gave Greg a look that tells of her being impressed by his kind gesture, and at the same time, her regrets for breaking up with him. And she stared at her new credit card once again.

"You take care of yourself", Greg then bid Sharon and turned to leave after taking one last glance at what he had promised to help her with when they were still dating: he took delivery of it from his relative that worked in a credit card company a day after she had broken up with him.

"Wait!", Sharon stopped him. Then she got to her feet, grabbed her handbag, and stood in front of Greg. "Can we go somewhere else where we can talk?", she asked. "Somewhere quiet", she suggested.

Greg nodded his approval and Sharon then went over to Annette and said a few inaudible words to her. Annette nodded at her, both girls said their goodbyes with a hug, and Sharon got hold of Greg's hand.

"Can you please wait until tomorrow to tell me this message that you have for me?", Sharon then asked Alex with a pleading voice. Alex gave her a brief thoughtful gaze and decided not to ruin what seemed to be a good night for her and the guy he never liked with a nod of the head.

Sharon then flashed Alex a bright smile and led Greg out of the room. Alex smiled back at her. Greg did the same but Alex ignored him and turned away from him.

After they had walked out of the room, Alex turned his attention to Annette who was now bending over pick up her handbag. He then thought about the phone call that he had gotten at Chris' house.

"Leonard wasn't the guy that called me", Alex then said.

"Just some random guy that was trying to hit on me", Annette said indifferently as she got hold of her bag. "He said he's an aspiring actor".

"Hm, well played", Alex quipped and liked what he saw when his eyes made an adventurous glance a little below her bent back. "So how did you get to know my name? Or did Greg tell you that?", he asked. "I don't think we have seen each other before", Alex noted.

Annette straightened up and turned to Alex. "Of course we have", she replied coldly and gave him a knowing look of being aware of where he had feasted his eyes on. "Three years ago in Angel's house", she continued and checked her handbag for anything missing.

Alex then knew that it was his twin brother that she had seen at Angel's house. But he still wanted to carry on with the discussion.

"I don't recall getting acquainted with you in Angel's house", Alex said, his remark being a cunning way of making Annette give him the details of her interactions with Eric.

"We didn't", Annette said still maintaining her cold tone of voice. "And it wouldn't have happened cos on that day as I recall, you were busy with Angel's friends: beating them stupid to rescue your girl, Lisa, from Angel's rape game", she continued. "I don't think it would've been a good idea to have asked if you were in the mood for a chat".

Alex nodded with a smirk. "I must've made quite an impression on you to still remember me after all these years", he said

"Yeah, a tragic one", Annette muttered. "And my night has been the same too, so I just wanna go home and get some sleep", she added without looking at Alex and then left the room without saying goodbye to him.

Alex found himself walking into a heated argument that was going on in the V.I.P. room. His eyes first saw another girl whom he easily recognized, whom he had always wanted to bed: Sharon, of course. The curious look on his face then turned confused on seeing Sharon's ex-boyfriend, Greg, in the room too. Then, with a look of alert in his eyes, Alex made several searching glances at the rest of the individuals in the room: they were all male, young men that looked to be a few years above twenty: Alex counted four.

Sharon and one of the young men were hollering at each other with raised voices; Sharon also made angry gestures in his face. Greg was surrounded by the other three, he looked visibly unsettled while they regarded him, very determined in the looks on their faces and with a threatening composure.

They all paused in their activities and got silent upon seeing Alex. None of them appeared to be in a friendly mood or had the face of any of Alex's friends. And they all regarded him with a look that questioned his presence in the room.

"Leonard", Annette quickly began at the young man with Sharon. "This is the guy I was telling you about, he is the one that gave Greg the message and he had been waiting for Sharon", she continued, trying to look calm though her body language faintly said differently. The young man, named Leonard and Sharon's new boyfriend, glanced at Annette and then stared at Alex with an insolent glare.

Leonard was tall with a good build and wide shoulders. He wore a camouflage-coloured Varsity jacket, brown pants, and brown boots. To Alex's eyes, he appeared to be the arrogant type with a constant demand for respect but gave none at all. It was a 'Hate at first sight' to Alex.

"Who are you?", Leonard then began curtly at Alex.

"I thought she had already made the introduction", Alex replied coolly at Leonard, now getting the gamut of what Annette was cooking: Greg had somehow gotten himself in a mix with Leonard and his ex-girlfriend Sharon, and probably in trouble from the way Leonard's friends had surrounded him like thugs that were about to violently rob a defenseless individual in an alley, and Annette trying to use him as a diversion to save Greg from the situation.

"Did you poke this stupid cow into coming here to deliver a message?", Leonard curtly asked again and pointed at Greg with a glare at Alex.

"Do you have to be rude to everyone you meet?", Sharon immediately put in irritatedly at Leonard.

"Hey! Just shut it!", Leonard said with a raised voice at Sharon.

Still in the early stage of the relationship and this asshole's already being this rude, Alex thought to himself with a smirk at Leonard. "You already heard that", he then replied to Leonard's question.

"Well, you've just made a big mistake sending the wrong guy for the job, pal", Leonard then muttered with a scowl. "And it gonna cost your friend here cos he gonna pay for messing with my party".

"Hey man, I didn't come here for trouble", Greg protested with a near-timid voice and seemingly reduced to a frightened mouse from being surrounded by Leonard's friends who were also as big as Leonard. "He had also proved that my intention is genuine", he continued and pointed at Alex, trying to play along to save himself from getting embarrassed in front of his ex-girlfriend with the possibility of being physically hurt. "What else do you want from me?", he asked with glances at Leonard's friends.

"Leo, please just let him", Annette then tried to plead Greg's case.

"Am gonna find out those that are also involved in this sh!t and also use them to send a message to anyone that tries to f@ck with me", Leonard mouthed out his threats to her. "And I want you to get your ass out of here", he ordered Alex and motioned at the door.

Alex gave Leonard a brief expressionless stare. "I think you didn't get the memo", he then said quietly. "And since the message has been delivered and me being here, Greg's presence is no longer needed", he continued. As much as Alex would love to have a beer in the room and watch Leonard's friends take a jump on Greg, he still doesn't like bullies.

"Motherfucker I said get the f@ck out of here!", Leonard barked at Alex. "Unless you wanna join him in the sh!t that's about to happen to him", he warned with a fiery glare.

Alex sighed, stared at Greg shortly, and decided that his dislike for the guy wasn't enough to make him walk away from the disrespect that was happening.

"In that case", Alex began and dug both hands into the pockets of his coat. "You and your friends won't be leaving here", he said coolly with an unblinking gaze at Leonard. "Even if it's to take a piss", he continued, his gaze turning cold and sinister.

Alex's words drew Leonard's friends' attention from Greg to him. Greg was overly surprised on seeing his bitter enemy standing up for him. Leonard confusedly made glances at his friends. Sharon was staring intriguingly at Alex, and her interest in him was seemingly aroused. Annette stared adamantly at the situation as if she already knew what would happen next.

"And you better tone down the sh!ts coming out from that motor mouth of yours", Alex continued. "Or you gonna regret it", he warned.

"What?". Leonard sneered. "We are four guys deep in this motherfucker, I can get more, and we are all Rolling-Sixties Deuce gang. You watch your damn mouth cos you are f@cking with the wrong guy", he threatened. But it was quite clear that several levels of his bold and brash attitude had been shaved off, from the way his tone of voice sounded.

Alex glanced at Leonard from head to toe with a knowing smile. "Nah, you got it all wrong, bro", he chuckled at Leonard. "See, the owner of this joint happens to be one of the top dogs in the Supreme Hustlers, some of the workers here are members of that gang too". Alex paced closer to Leonard who was now maintaining a calm composure with a lot of difficulties. "That includes the two gorillas manning the club entry door, and they always represent their crew to the fullest....done violently if it comes to that", Alex continued with a hard stare at him.

"So what?", Leonard asked quietly. His friends were now making nervous glances at themselves.

"So...you might wanna think twice before escalating sh!t that would make them start asking why some rival gang members are hanging in their territory", Alex replied. "That is...if you guys are indeed the Sixties Deuce boys", he added.

It was clear that Leonard had been chopped in half by Alex's statements, with the nervousness that clouded his face as he stared at Alex in silence. Even his friends that had been showcasing their toughness from the way they carried themselves, were all reduced to four standing bundles of nerves. And Leonard himself had realized that his attempt at using one of his favorite lines of intimidation to make the guy before him fold in fear, had turned out to be a conspicuous failure on his part. He might have indeed f@cked with the wrong guy that he had falsely claimed to be.

Leonard then sighed and turned away from Alex. "Just let that fool go with him", he told his friends to leave Greg alone. They wasted no time in backing away from Greg who was now the one staring down at them, all three of them. "Go with your friend and leave us alone", he continued at Alex without looking at him.

"Nope", Alex disagreed with what Leonard just said. "It's either you and your gay-gang friends get the f@ck out of here right now", he said and pointed at the door with glances at Leonard and his friends. "Or there gonna be a lot of shoveling to be done in here later", he concluded and waited for them to decide their fate.

"Hey man", one of Leonard's friends then began quietly at Alex. "We are the ones that booked this room".

"Did I mention giving a f@ck about who did?", Alex asked him.

Alex's phone then vibrated an incoming call. He reached for it and saw it was Chris calling him. "Hey, Chris", he began and listened to the voice that rasped out of the phone's earpiece. Then he looked at Leonard who was now staring at him. "You know where I am, call back in five minutes if you don't hear from me", he continued with a fixed stare at Leonard. "And get everything ready", he concluded and ended the phone conversation.

"So what is it gonna be?", Alex then asked, still staring at Leonard with his cell phone held up. He could hear one of Leonard's friends whispering to the other that they need to get the hell out of the place.

Leonard then decided to be the coward with a standing house than be the brave one with piles of ruins. "Baby let's get the hell out of here", he began at Sharon and made a move to get hold of her arm.

"No". Sharon backed away from him. "I wanna go home", she told him.

"Baby you don't have to...", Leonard then continued, now calmer in his voice.

"I said I wanna go home!", Sharon insisted and interrupted him. "And don't baby me". She then glared at him. "I may not like Greg, but I hate bullies", she told him.

Alex saw that Leonard was about to lose Sharon faster than he had gotten her, and he decided to pump more gas. "You have four minutes before I get that call", he announced to Leonard and waved his phone at him.

Leonard's friends started moving without even saying anything to him, filing out of the room one by one. Leonard was the last to leave the place. He paused to give Alex a brief stare before walking out of the room.

As Eric was walking himself out of the lobby of the motel, Alex was alone at a corner table in CLUB 66 and taking his first sip of the beer that he had paid for. He stubbed the second cigarette that he was now having in the ashtray on the table and absent-mindedly stared at the crowd of clubbers on the dance floor.

Half an hour ago in Chris's apartment, he had gotten a phone call from a number unknown to him. The male caller who had identified himself as Leonard and Sharon's boyfriend told him that Sharon had gotten his message.

After Alex had provided the convincing answers that he had made up, to the caller's questions about his knowledge of Sharon, he was then told by the caller that Sharon was chilling in a nightclub called, CLUB 66. And he was also told to be there as soon as possible if he wanted to meet Sharon.

Alex had demanded to speak with Sharon to be sure that she was indeed in the nightclub as the caller had claimed. But he was told that Sharon only wants to speak with him in person before the phone conversation got ended abruptly.

Alex had initially doubted the authenticity of the phone conversation. But after his friend, Chris, had put his genius-level computer skills to use and proved that the phone call had indeed been made in the vicinity of the nightclub, Alex then raced his way to the location of the place as fast as he could.

When he got there, through an old pal of his that he had called and who happened to be one of the club managers, he was able to get inside the place without having to deal with the long queue of people that were waiting to be checked into the club or denied entrance. His pal also provided him with an empty table that was already reserved for a patron that was yet to arrive, with a warning to vacate the table when the owner shows up.

Alex took an uneasy glance at his wristwatch and saw it was past Two Thirty-five. A.M. and well over thirty minutes from the time he had settled himself in the club. He was yet to see the caller named Leonard, or meet Sharon. He had twice called the number and got no answer. And he was yet to receive a response to the text message that he had also sent to the number to announce his presence in the club.

As the wait grew longer and his frustration being increased with the minutes that ticked away in his wristwatch, Alex remained seated alone at his table. He drank his beer with delay and maintained steady visuals of the people around him, absorbing the activities that were happening in CLUB 66.

The club, just like every other weekend, was packed with its air, thick with excitement and loud music. The dance floor that Alex had his eyes trained on was filled with bodies swaying and writhing to the beats of a banging 'gang-gang' rap song. The music played with a blaring bass that shook the entire club and drove the revelers ecstatic: some were making wild gestures to the rap artist's coarse-voiced roarings of criminal lyrics. The psychedelic and disco lights exploding against the walls and floor were enough to make one blink one too many times.

Alex watched the interesting scene with the occasional sip from his bottle. His preoccupation with the show then got interrupted by his cell phone which started vibrating with an incoming call. He quickly reached for his phone and saw the number that had called him earlier on its screen. And he immediately pressed the Answer button.

"Where are you?".

Alex's brows furrowed at the voice that was of a female. "Sharon?", he asked.

"Where are you now?", the voice demanded again with a lot of eagerness in its tone.

Alex then got to his feet and made glances around him. "I'm at a table close to the door, right corner", he replied, giving the caller, his position in the club. "I'm the guy in a black coat that's waving his hand ", he added and waved his hand above his head.

In no time, a girl making a phone call walked past Alex. She paused in her movement, looked in his direction, and made straight toward him with a recognizing look on her face. But she wasn't the Sharon that Alex had been expecting to see.

"Alex Philips", the girl began, standing in front of him.

Alex regarded the girl confusedly with a long searching stare. Then his eyes took account of her physical features.

She was very good-looking; a good-sized head on her shoulder with an oval-shaped face, full lips, and a pointed nose. And her eyes, though keen enough to stare right through one's soul, were strikingly exquisite. She was well-dressed and had a shapely figure with a good height for a female.

All the packages that Alex ever wanted in a girl were standing right before him. But it was the look of agitation on her face that caught his attention the most.

"Where is Sharon?", Alex then asked the girl whom he just met for the first time.

"I want you to follow me", the girl said to him with some urgency in her voice.

"But who are you?", Alex demanded.

"Annette", the girl immediately said her name with her composure becoming increasingly unsettled.

"But I was supposed to meet Sharon and her boyfriend, Leonard", Alex told Annette, now getting worried by her overly troubled look.

"I will explain later", Annette said quickly and wrapped her arm around Alex's. "Please do come with me". Then she started pushing her way through the crowd, heading toward the stairs that led to the V.I.P. section and dragging Alex with her.

Alex got more confused. "Where are we going? What's going on?", he demanded as he was being dragged and made to apologize to the individuals that he bumped into due to Annette's hurried steps.

"Just follow me", Annette insisted with a gasp as she moved.

They made their way through the crowd with Alex saying more apologies, reached the stairs, and climbed their way into the moderately lit corridor of the V.I.P. section. Annette passed a few doors of the private rooms, her arms now kept to herself with Alex following after her. She stopped in front of a door and Alex heard an indistinct noise coming out from the room.

Then Annette turned to Alex. "First of all, let me apologize for the inconvenience", she began. "You have to wait for me to talk to Leonard".

Alex stared at her in silence and still trying to understand the situation. He had been expecting to meet Sharon, but not in this manner.

"And no matter what Leonard says, please don't mention the phone call that you earlier had, for your friend's sake", Annette continued.

"What?". Alex's brows furrowed. "What friend?", he asked.

But Annette's hand was already turning the door knob. Her arm again wrapped around Alex's, dragging him into the room before he could further protest.


******************************************

For any of you that had read the part 2 of this story, can any of you tell me why the old woman called Eric the name, Samuel?

The Mercedes drove through the empty street of the neighbourhood for about a minute and came to a halt beside an old-looking building. The building was four floors high with a broken sign above its front door that identified the place as a motel. Rangel then carefully surveyed the building and the surrounding houses around them.

"So what now?", Rangel asked and stared at Eric through the rearview mirror.

Eric gave no response to Rangel's question and quietly alighted from the vehicle.

"I don't know what he intends to do with us", Rangel whispered to Jessica. "But there is something about this damn place that doesn't feel right", he continued and glanced around him.

"Yeah", Jessica agreed "I've heard things about this place", she whispered back to Rangel. "It was said that five leaders of a mafia family came to this place...and were never seen again".

Rangel stared at Jessica curiously.

"It was like they just....vanished", Jessica continued.

Then Rangel looked over his shoulder and stared intently at the assault rifle that Eric had left on the backseat. Jessica got hold of his arm and slowly shook her head at him. Rangel then heavily reclined in his seat with a sigh, staring ahead of him thoughtfully. And only Eric was aware that the rifle magazine was empty.

The both of them watched as Eric stood in front of the car. He stared at a particular house standing across the street, of similar height to the motel, and facing it. One of the windows on the top floor shone to the light in the room that was suddenly switched on. Eric waved his hand when the curtains of the window were slightly drawn apart with the silhouette of the occupant in the room peeking at them. The light then switched off moments later, and Eric motioned at Rangel and Jessica to come out of the car.

Rangel and Jessica nervously alighted from the car with cautious glances around them. Most of the houses in the neighbourhood even though quite old, were fairly better than the ones where Jessica lived. But the place still exudes some kind of a creeping sense of dread and danger, being there at that time of the night.

"Is this the place?", Rangel asked as Eric led them towards the motel.

Eric nodded.

"Are you sure that we will be safe in a place like this?", Rangel asked again and sounding quite nervous.

"As I had said earlier, it all depends", Eric answered. "It could either be a safe place for you guys or your place of demise", he continued.

Rangel made a brief pause with his eyes narrowed at Eric, and then he continued into the motel with Eric holding the door for him and Jessica.

Eric led them through the well-lit, narrow, and shabby-decorated lobby and stood before the front desk. He tapped the bell on the worn-out wooden surface of the desk and waited with his eyes fixed on the door of an inner room behind the desk. The door was left ajar and the sounds of the t.v in the room were faintly audible. Some movements were heard, the door opened wide, and an elderly woman with glasses stepped out of the room and peered at the three of them. She set her eyes on Eric and immediately gave him a recognizing bright smile.

The woman was well in her sixties, with a slender but quite strong-looking body. Her head was crowned with full and well-kempt, silver-coloured hair that was neatly tied behind her head. Her somewhat good-looking face still has the remnants of the youthful beauty that she once had before the onset of her autumn years.

"Samuel!", the old woman began cheerily at Eric. She quickly walked around the front desk and towards Eric with firm steps and a gait that would make anyone doubt her age.

"Good to see you again Mrs. Mary", Eric smiled at the woman when she stood before him.

Mary threw her arms around Eric and hugged him fervently. "I thought you won't be coming back again...like before", she said, held him for a long while and gave him a peck on the side of his face.

"I promised to always come to see you", Eric said to the old woman, gave her a tight hug, and planted a kiss on her forehead. "How are you doing?", he asked and stared into the face of the woman he was towering over.

"Same as usual", Mary replied, still hugging Eric tightly with her body pressed against his.

"And your health?".

"Still controlling the cholesterol. That's one enemy that I'm finding very difficult to defeat". Then Mary looked at both Rangel and Jessica. "Who are they?", she asked.

"Friends that I just made", Eric replied. "They ran into some kind of a hitch. So I brought them here to be protected".

Mary regarded them shortly with indifference. "A lot of people are coming here for protection these days", She said. "But my services don't come for free, and it is not for everyone though".

"They are not the type on a criminal grind",

"I wouldn't have asked about them if they were, especially seeing the ruggedly dressed softie beside the girl". Mary smiled at Eric.

Rangel's face formed a frown on being called a softie.

"But for you, my service is always free", Mary continued. Then she let go of Eric and went straight into the inner room.

"Samuel?", Rangel began and stared at Eric curiously. "Don't tell me that you and that old hag are.....".

"She always mistakes me for a lover that left her years before my mother was born", Eric interrupted. "And my name is not Samuel", he added.

"Oh", Rangel nodded and glanced at Jessica. "The old lady must be messed up in the head", he snorted.

Eric immediately expressed his dislike for what Rangel had said with a cold stare at him. "Well she got eighteen under her belt", he muttered.

"Eighteen what?....boyfriends?", Rangel sneered.

"Eighteen confirmed kills, when she was my age", Eric corrected. "Men, all whom you stand no chance at all, be it a fist, or gunfight", he stated.

The sneer on Rangel's face was wiped off in an instant. Jessica shot a glance at Eric and stared at the inner room with furrowed brows.

"And you better watch your f@cking mouth cos this woman runs the entire neighbourhood", Eric continued. "With just one snap of her finger, you will be sharing a very small bed with all sorts of monstrous men in need of men like you", he warned.

"I...will surely do that, man", Rangel signed. Then he glanced around the motel lobby, thinking about what Jessica had told him about the men that went missing after visiting the neighbourhood, and quietly muttering, "What the hell is this place".

Mary then reappeared from the room with a room key in her hand. "Do you need any other thing else, my dear?", she asked Eric and handed him the key.

"Yes mam, a change of clothes and a resupply", Eric replied.

"I've already set a pair of clean clothing for you in the room. You have enough stink to wake up corpses", Mary sighed. "And the resupply, is it for the long or short one?", she asked.

"The short one", Eric answered.

"The type?"

"The blunted four-five. I hope you still have the black ones".

Mary nodded with a faint smile. Then she gave Rangel a brief cold stare as if she heard what he had said about her, and turned to go behind her front desk. "Go inside and change your clothes, let me get your resupply", she told Eric.

"I hope the cheques are still coming in with the right figures?", Eric asked as he handed the key to Rangel and followed her.

"As always, my dear", Mary heaved her reply and rested her hands on her desk. "They are always punctual to the Tee when it comes to that".

"Okay". Eric then disappeared into the inner room.

Rangel and Jessica remained where they stood and watched Mary as she lowered her trunk with a sigh to reach for something below the desk. They heard the faint sound of her finger punching a button followed by the unlocking sound of a safe box. Mary then straightened up with her hand holding a small black box and quietly left it on the table. Rangel curiously paced closer to the desk and fixed his gaze on the box. The box label identified its contents to be the ammunition of a .45 handgun; Black Talon brand. Rangel then fixed a searching gaze at the old woman as she reached for the notebook on the table.

Mary started flipping the pages of the notebook, stopping to briefly linger over a page before going to the next. She did so with a face that was blank of expression. She remained as silent as a grave and gave no attention whatsoever to the two individuals standing before her.

Rangel's hand then slowly reached for the box of the deadly blunted bullets to take a closer look at it. This prompted Mary to freeze in her movement and remained still as a statue. Then the keen eyes behind her glasses slowly rolled from the page of the book in front of her and rested on the hand that Rangel had left suspended over the box after he noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. Jessica who was now standing beside Rangel immediately gave him a light nudge with her elbow and shook her head at him when he looked at her. Rangel then withdrew his adventurous hand, and Mary then moved her eyes back to the notebook and continued going through the pages.

Eric reappeared from the room, dressed in the new clothes that Mary had given him, with the dirty footwear that he had on being replaced with a new one. It was a perfect fit.

Mary turned her eyes to him, shortly admired his looks, and got hold of the ammo box. "So", she began and held the box in front of Eric. "You will be paying me regular visits for the time being", she said and handed him the box.

"Yes mam". Eric nodded. "Please do take care of the new guests".

"I will, as long as they don't start snooping around my business and keep a good habit", Mary said quietly, but it did come out as a warning. "I will be seeing you soon, Sam".

Eric nodded, gave Rangel and Jessica a brief look, and then walked out of the motel.

"You two should go to your room. It is on the third floor", Mary said nonchalantly to Rangel and Jessica. Go now before I change my mind", she concluded and faced the notebook on her desk.

Jessica immediately grabbed Rangel's arm and hurriedly pulled him towards the stairs leading to the rooms.

Apologies for the long absence.

The white Mercedes cruised smoothly along the street that was illuminated by the streetlights. The three occupants in the sedan were on high alert and making cautious glances at every vehicle that passed them as their car drove at a steady speed. The silence that had settled in their midst from the alley where their journey had begun, was up until now, still in place. They all seemed to have something on their minds: The two in the front were visibly worried, and still thinking about their close shave with death that they earlier had at the house, while the lone passenger at the back, expressed none and bearing thoughts of his next move to make.

Rangel glanced at the road sign that they drove past. He thought for a long moment and then decided to break the silence that had settled amongst them from the time their journey had begun, and up until now, was still in their midst. "So where are we going?", he asked and glanced at Eric through the rearview mirror.

"Somewhere", Eric replied indifferently with a hand on the assault rifle resting on his lap, gazing at the scenery outside the car finger on the trigger of the assault rifle resting on his laps

"And where is this somewhere?", Rangel demanded.

"A place that could either be a safe place for you and your girl....or a holding house, depending on what I find out about you two", Eric replied, still sounding indifferent.

Jessica got a little bit more worried.

Rangel swallowed hard with the same expression that his girlfriend had on her face. He had seen what the man sitting behind him can do. And he knew that this wasn't the type of person he would want to mess with.

"Dude, you gotta know that we ain't got nothing to do with whatever situation that you had with John", he mentioned quietly as he smoothly worked the steering wheel of the Benz.

"Okay", Eric muttered. "But I do have trust issues whenever am faced with problems of that nature".

"Look, I'm on your side in this sh!t situation", Rangel stated. Then he frowned. "I have been trying to get that motherfucker Bronco for a long time", he muttered quietly.

"A lot of people probably do want Bronco dead, from what I've heard about him", Eric agreed. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that they are on my side", he noted.

Rangel glanced at Eric again through the rearview mirror. "So..what did Reggie tell you about Bronco?", he asked.

Eric moved his eyes away from the scenery outside the car to the weapon on his lap. "Reggie told me that he is one hell of a violent man", he replied.

"Is that all he told you?",

"That was his exact words"

Rangel chuckled. "I guess he probably didn't want to get you too scared", he said.

Eric then narrowed his eyes at Rangel's position. "Do I come off as someone who easily gets scared?", he asked.

"Hey man, I don't know who you are", Rangel sighed. But if your get-down isn't as brutal and as wicked as Bronco's, then you have no business whatsoever, going to war with him", he warned.

"So you are implying that I'm supposed to be scared, huh?", Eric muttered.

I'm only saying that you gotta be careful, man. The guy is a ruthless motherfucker", Rangel said. "If there is any bad person that you know very well, then think of this guy as being ten times worse.

"Is he that much of a bad guy?", Eric asked.

"Yes, he is that bad", Jessica answered the question, now looking quite relaxed and no longer the bundle of nerves that was sitting beside Rangel. she had already made the decision to accept whatever fate the armed man behind her, brings to her. She was no longer afraid of him causing her harm. And she has no reason to be because it was his quick intervention that saved her and Rangel from certain death.

She was yet to understand the motives behind his actions against Bronco and how it involves them. But she did know one damn thing for sure; she and Rangel will be needing all the help that they could get to save them from Bronco.

Bronco wants Rangel dead by all means. And it was clear that Bronco now knows of her relationship with Rangel; his men showing up at her house, guns-blazing, was proof of that. So sticking with the man who was out to do the same and probably worse to Bronco, seemed to be the best option for them, to which she had given some thought, and decided that it was in their best interest to keep their enemy's enemy, in their company. And from what she had heard from Reggie and seen so far, the man behind them seemingly possesses the uncanny abilities of a natural-born killer.

"Do you also know Bronco that well?", Eric asked with his eyes at Jessica.

"A friend of mine told me a lot about him", Jessica replied.

"And who is this friend of yours?".

"Someone that I have known since childhood.

Eric nodded and pursed his lips.

"She also works in a club that Bronco usually visits. A strip club", Jessica continued. "She said the guy always looks sinister and with some kind of an unsettling...eerie vibe around him, even when he is chilling".

"It's like he and his brother are out chasing tail when they are not murdering people", Eric murmured.

"No, he doesn't go there for the women", Jessica disagreed. "He never shows any interest in the women".

"I don't think he gives a sh!t about women", Rangel added to what his girlfriend just said. "The dude looks like the type of guy who doesn't even sleep with women", he snorted.

Eric sneered and glanced at the car that slowly overtook them. "Why don't you give me the location of the strip club so that I can go make him a done situation", he suggested.

"It ain't that easy", Rangel muttered. "I have tried that a lot of times".

"What makes you think that it won't be for me?", Eric asked.

"Believe me, man. It ain't gonna be", Rangel insisted. "The man always brings a squad of trigger-happy goons with him", he went on. "And the men ain't the type that will be pointing at who to kill if someone happens to make a move at him. They will be shooting at everything. My ass is being wanted by the authorities for something less, and I wouldn't wanna add innocent bystanders being killed in a shootout to the list. Besides, with his brother dead, Bronco won't be hanging around his regular spot. He is not that stupid".

For a long moment, Eric thought about what Rangel had said. "So what's your beef with Bronco?", he then asked Rangel.

Rangel paused for a long moment. The anger in his eyes could be seen through the rearview mirror. "He killed my brother", he then replied. "He never did Bronco or anybody any wrongdoing", he continued, and the pain of losing someone very close to him could be heard in his voice. "He wasn't even the violent type, always settled every dispute amicably".

"I guess your brother was also in the drug game", Eric said.

Rangel nodded.

"Well, that's the nature of the business, I am sure your brother was aware of what he was getting himself into", Eric continued. "It's either doing time in the slammer or ending up in the grave".

"Yeah, he was selling dope, and I know very well that it was wrong and dangerous", Rangel agreed. "But he was doing it cos it was the only way for him to take care of himself, and to also support my education, especially us growing up with no one to give us a helping hand. And he also took care of a lot of people, most of them were less privileged just as we had been when we were young.


Eric, who had been listening to Rangel then turned his sights outside the car. The unconcerned expression that he had on his face, also faded. He had considered Rangel and Jessica's situation not to be any of his business, but Rangel's words about his brother had gotten his undivided attention.

"Make a right turn and keep going until I tell you to stop", he then ordered Rangel.

Rangel quietly did as he was told and drove the car along a dark street that led to a low-class neighborhood.

Wolex76:
You're just going in a circle, just for Alex's friend to unlock a phone and you wrote about him and his girlfriend without him unlocking the phone.

I don't understand what you are talking about.